Electric-motor gearing



(N'o Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. J. SPRAGUE. BL'EGTRIQ MOTOR GEARING.

No. 437,259. Patented Sept. so, 1890.v

Figli.

(No Model.) '2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' J. J. SPRAG'UE.

ELECTRIC MOTOR GBA-RING. y I No. 437,259. Patented Sept. 30. 1890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. 'w

JOSEPH J. SPRAGUE, OF OARTHAGE, MISSOURI.

ELECTRIC-MOTOR GEARING.

SPECIFICATION forming` part of Letters Patent No. 437,259, datedSeptember 30, 1890.

Application led .l uly 1 9 1890.

.To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH J. SPRAGUE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Oarthage, county of Jasper, in the State lof Missouri, haveinvented a new and Improved Electric-Motor Gearing, of which thefollowing is such a full, clear, and exact description as will enableany one skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis specification.

The object of my invention is to gear in a simple, effective, andcompact manner an electic motor so that either speed or power can beobtained at will.

The invention consists of an armature carried by a loosely-mountedsleeve journaled about a rotary shaft, the parts being so arranged thatthe shaft upon which the sleeve carrying the armature is mounted may bedriven directly by the rotation of the sleeve and armature to obtainspeed or may bc driven indirectly by suitable gearing intermediate thesleeve and rotary shaft to impart power to the shaft.

My invention will be best understood by referring to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is aside elevation of an electricmotorgearing made in accordance with my invention, Fig. 2 is a'plan View ofthe same. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sect-ion thereof on the line 3 3 ofFig. 2, and Fig. 4isasectional view of a detail.

The same iigures and letters of reference indicate the same partsthroughout the several views. A

5 is a rotary shaft journaled in bearings 6 6 at each side of theapparatus, which may be supported by a bed-piece 7. Surrounding thisrotary shaft is a hollow sleeve 8, upon which the armature 9 is mounted.10 is the commutator carried by said sleeve, and 11 1l the brushestherefor, which are suitably supported from the pole-pieces 12 of thefieldmagnet 13 by rods a, journaled upon projecting pieces b, secured tosaid pole-pieces. The sleeve 8 also carries a spur-pinion 14. Thispinion is adapted to mesh with a spur-wheel 15, carried by acounter-sleeve 16, parallel with the main sleeve and shaft, whichcounter-sleeve is supported by an eccentrically- Serial No. 359,312. (Nomodel.)

`mounted stationary shaft c, (see Fig. 4,) sustained by bearings 17 17at each end. The counter-sleeve 16 carries also a spur-pinion 18, whichis adapted to mesh with a large spurwheel 19, keyed rigidly to the mainrotary shaft 5. One end of the shaft c is provided with a handle20,which, when suitably manipulated, throws the spur-wheel 15 into gearwith the pinion-wheel14 and the pinion 18 into engagement with thespur-wheel19. Any other Way of arranging the spur-wheel 15 and pinion 18whereby they may be readily brought into requisition to increase thepower and reduce the speed may be adopted without departing from myinvention. Upon the sleeve 8, intermediate of the armature and spurwheel19 and rigidly connected to said sleeve, is preferably a disk 21, havingone or more notches 22 therein. These notches are adapted to be engagedby the nose of a sliding button 23 or otherlocking device carried by thespurwheel19. When the handle 2O is manipulated so as to throw thespur-wheel 15 and pinion '18 out of engagement with the pinion-Wheel 14and spur-wheel 19, respectively, and the fingerbutton 23, carried by thespur-wheel 19, is made to engage one of the notches in the disk 21, asclearly shown in Fig. 1, the power of the armature will be applied tothe main c shaft 5 direct by means of said disk, ngerbutton, andspur-wheel 19. The main shaft 5 will therefore `be driven at the samespeed that the armature rotates. By disengaging the nger-button 23 fromthe disk 21 and manipulating the handle 20 so as to throw the spur-Wheel15 and pinion 13 into engagement with the pinion-wheel 14 and spur-wheel19, respectively, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, the speed of the rotatingarmature and sleeve will be transmitted to the main shaft 5 with anincrease of power. The said main shaft 5 may be any suitable shaft towhich it is desired to transmit power. This shaft carries a wheel orpulley 24, which furnishes power for any desired object. By cutting outor interposin g resistance in circuit of the electric motor to vary thestrength and electro- Inotive force of the current the armature may bemade to rotate with varying speed (as is Well known) in addition tohaving the change in power secured by the mechanical arrangement hereindescribed. When the power- IOO gear is brought into requisition, thespeed of the motor may be increased by cutting resistance out of thecircuit in order to compensate for the reduction of speed due to thegearing which would otherwise occur, and thus the shaft can be driven atthe same speed with an increase of power, and thus be useful for drivingvarious kinds of machinery. It, however, the motor be revolved at thesame speed as before, when the power-gearing is pnt in use the speed ofrotation of the shaft will be verymueh reduced. This way of gearing anelectric motor may therefore be used for propelling street-ears wherepower is required to start the car slowly and speed of rotation onlynecessary to propel the car after it is put in motion. Thus when theelectric motor is rotated at the same speed as before and the power-gearis brought into requisition the ear will be started slowly and the motorwill by this gearing have suiicient power to start the ear. After theear has been started, the powergearing being thrown out of use, theshaft 5 may be coupled directly to the armature for speed.

The arrangement is simple and very compact, and not liable to get out oforder, and the parts easily adjusted for speed and power.

Having fully set forth myinvention,what I desire to claim and secure byLetters Patent of the United States is-- 1`. A gearing for electricmotors, consisting of a rotary shaft to which power is to be applied, aloosely-mounted sleeve carried by said shaft, an armature thereupon withsuitable electrical connections, a spur-wheel keyed to said shaft, meansfor coupling and uncoupling said spur-wheel to and from said sleeve andarmature, a pinion-wheel carried by said sleeve, gearing intermediate ofsaid spurwheel and pinion for transmitting the rotation of Said sleeveand pinion to said spurwheel and rotary shaft with an increase of power,and means for throwing said gear into and out of engagement with saidspur-wheel and pinion.

2. The combination, as hereinbefore set forth, of the rotary shaf t 5,theloosely-mounted sleeve 8 carried thereby, an armature 9 upon saidsleeve with suitable electrical connections, a disk 2l, rigidly securedto said sleeve, a spur-wheel 19, keyed to said shaft, having a lockingdevice for engaging and disengaging said disk, a spur-pinion let,carried at the other end of said sleeve, a snitably-supported spurwheel15 and pinion 1S, and means for throwingr the latter' into and out ofengagement with said pinion 1st and spur-wheel 19, respectively,substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal,this 12th day ol July, 1890, in the presence of the two subseribinglwitnesses.

JOSEPH J. SPRAGUE.

Witnesses:

L. W. CAMPBELL, Guo. l?. CUNNINGHAM.

